


Now You Do

by voicedimplosives



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ahch-To, Angst, Bonding, Drabble, Female Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 10:16:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14590848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voicedimplosives/pseuds/voicedimplosives
Summary: After the showdown on Crait, the Resistance hides out on Ahch-To. Rose and Rey share a moment of understanding.





	Now You Do

Kylo hides most of his emotions from her. Well, he tries. She gets vague impressions, the occasional pointed thought when his irritation or anger flares up. The things he purposefully sends across the bond. But when he sleeps—there they are. Like the vast sea of Ahch-To, not drowning her but licking at the shoreline of her mind in roaring waves.

 

As ever, it's the loneliness that drives Rey from her bed. His, hers, the galaxy's—it all hurts the same.

 

She roams the island, then climbs up the craggy peaks so she can howl into the wind when she's far above the heads of her compatriots. She lets the rushing air steal her voice, knowing it will be secreted away somewhere on this strange aquatic planet, the exact opposite of Jakku.

 

Rose finds her like this one night after she's screamed herself hoarse, Ahch-To's suns not yet risen but just beginning to soften the night's dark edge.

 

“Hey,” she pants, appreciatively taking Rey's offered hand as she pulls herself up the last bit of jagged hillside. “Thanks.”

 

“Is everything alright?” Rey asks, in a guttural croak.

 

“Ah, oof, that is not an easy climb. I was, uh, going to ask you that, actually.” Rose's head is tilted, her face tired but sympathetic in the weak gray light of pre-dawn.

 

“Oh, I just couldn't sleep.” The words sound thin and false to her own ears.

 

“I could hear you from my tent, Rey.” Rose's expression doesn't change.

 

“Kriff. Sorry.”

 

“No, no. It's—it's okay. We've all been through, well. A lot's happened to us, all of us.”

 

Rey swivels her head, focus drawn from the still-dark sea back to Rose. “Are _you_ okay?” she asks.

 

Rose shrugs, just a little. “My sister, Paige, used to do this sometimes. Get up in the night and go somewhere. She wasn't really a screamer but she'd train, or run flight simulations. You remind me of her, a little bit.”

 

Guilt lances her. “I didn't know—"

 

“Oh, no. Don't, it's—it's okay. I haven't talked about her much, I haven't been ready. I just, I miss her so much, you know?”

 

Rey is not good with offering physical affection. It was an unnecessary skill while she was growing up, and it feels awkward to her now. It's harder to learn than swordplay, or manipulations of the Force. But somehow, Rose's openness, her ability to be so vulnerable, makes it easy to bring her arm up around the mechanic. Rose lays her head on Rey's shoulder.

 

“She used to do that too, just like this. Hey, I don't think you ever told me. Do you have any siblings, back on Jakku, who did this for you?”

 

“No,” Rey chokes out. “I never had anyone.”

 

Rose is crying then, and after a moment, Rey lets go of her composure and weeps along with her.

 

“You do now,” Rose mumbles creakily.

 

“Yeah.” Rey watches through tear-clumped eyelashes as the sun just begins to peek out behind the jagged archipelago of islands on the horizon. “You're right. I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> _(This is a snippet I had to cut from my RFFA fic because it was just too damn long. But I still like it so I thought I'd post it as a little drabble.)_


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